No easy road
by Myannah
Summary: This is a story of Haymitch finding his way through life after he won the Games. And after he lost his girlfriend, mother and brother.
1. Prologue

Prologue

The blade flew right through a curl. She fell back and screamed. She slapped her hand over her mouth to muffle the scream and hid as quickly as she could. Another blade came out of nowhere and she felt that one end up in her throat. She couldn't breathe.

Effie Trinket woke up with a shock. She took deep breaths to calm herself down as she searched the other side of her bed for the warm body that was supposed to protect her from her own nightmares. The bed was cold. She stood up and corrected her wig. She picked up her compartment phone and dialed a number.

"Good morning." She said sweetly, as if talking to a child. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah?" She said after a response. "What did you have for breakfast?"

"Good girl. And Rubin?" She smiled and rolled her eyes. "Okay. I'll talk to grandma about that, okay? Can you give her the phone?" Effie listened and then sighed. "Mommy will be home soon, okay? Haybre, you know mommy has to do this." Effie took another calming breath. "I don't know. I'll let him call you, okay? Thank you, Sweetheart."

"Mom, please don't allow Rubin to eat sweets before breakfast. He's 6 years old. He still needs his teeth." Effie rolled her eyes and suppressed a sigh. "No I'm not going to give a six year old false teeth. Not the ten year old either. I don't care if it's normal. They're my kids."

"I know. Thank you." Effie hung up the phone with a deep sigh. Warm hands slid around her waist and a warm embrace calmed her down. She turned around and kissed his lips.

"You smell like a brothel, Haymitch." Effie complained.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

In the past…

It is the year of Haymitch Abernathy's victory at the fiftieth Hunger Games.

Haymitch crawled through his house. He hadn't eaten for days, and had no strength or any will to live. Every time he thought of his loss; his mother, brother and girlfriend gone, he stopped moving. The pain was unbearable.

He managed his way to the kitchen and found something to eat. Being 16 years old, and living by himself, the Capitol had assigned people from 12 to look after him. Haymitch knew it was just to check up on him. For their benefit, not his. He nibbled on fresh muffin and sipped water. The sun blinded him and he closed his eyes, staring at his eyelids until he could move away from the sun.

He had woken up from a particularly awful nightmare, screaming. His head was pounding and he felt more exhausted than ever before. He thought this was the day to end it all. He managed to drink an insane amount of alcohol and used the only bit of morphling he could get his hands on. The headache went away, but the walls started moving. The floor was no longer stable and he felt like he was falling from the floor.

He made his way up to the roof and climbed out his attic window. He sat on the roof, staring at the purple sky, the swarm of green moving ants covering the world and the blue smoke that was puffed out of the giant cake (All a morphling hallucination).

Eventually the world darkened and the pretty picture he saw turned back into the village. He stared down at the ground, daring it to come closer to him. His head began to hurt again and his feet felt like lead.

"That's not a good idea." A voice said to him.

"I'll do it if I want to. And trust me, I want to." Haymitch replied, not sure if he was talking to himself. The direction the voice had come from made no sense, so he resolved to have this argument with himself.

"Do you know what's going to happen to you?"

"I'm going to die."

"Oh no. It's not nearly far enough. Plus, you're drunk, so your body is more flexible. You'll just be in pain. But you won't die."

"If I stay there on the ground, I'll bleed to death."

"The President has people checking up on you. They'll find you. Even if you die, the Capital will likely scrape you off the ground and find a way to bring you back."

Haymitch frowned. This was probably true.

"How do I get out of this?" Haymitch asked. His head started spinning.

"You don't."

Haymitch sighed.

"You get off the roof. Through the window you came from. Painlessly. Save yourself a couple weeks of extra pain, because you know they won't issue morphling. He wants you to suffer." The voice was female, he suddenly realized. And he's never heard it before.

Haymitch reached into his pocket to retrieve the knife he hid there at all times.

"He?" Haymitched tried to provoke his fellow speaker to find her general direction.

"The president." She said matter-of-factly. Haymitch wasn't sure if he should throw the knife or just show it to warn her.

He turned to the direction of the speaker, which still made no sense to him, and found her on the roof of the neighboring house.

Ruby Rain stood on the roof of the house next to his. He scanned the village and realized her house was nowhere near his, and that she had found a way to that roof. How long had she been there? And what was she doing there anyway?

"Here, let me help you." Ruby said and took a step back before she jumped and leaped onto his roof.

"How did you do that?" Haymitch frowned and mimicked her move. But he had no strength, so instead of reaching the other roof, he ended up falling…


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Haymitch woke up when something sharp scratched his face. He was aware of a person being dangerously close to him. He reached for his knife and found his pocket empty. Another slice to his face and he tried to grab the perpetrator's knife. Instead he touched flesh.

He opened his eyes and looked into dark green eyes. He'd never looked so closely at these eyes but he had seen them in the past. Ruby Rain.

Ruby was the daughter of the only current living Hunger Games Mentor, Rupert. Twelve years ago, he won the games because he had a girlfriend and an unborn child to come home to. His girlfriend, Ruby's mother, died giving birth and Rupert had to raise her by himself. Rupert had been Haymitch's mentor in the games, but he knew that Rupert was a very depressed man.

"Hold still." Ruby said and touched his face again. A sharp stab sent a jolt through him and he jerked away. He grabbed her wrist and saw that she had removed a thorn. He sat up and saw the bowl of thorns she'd already removed. He flinched and moaned when he realized they'd all come out of his skin. Then he remembered the rose bush between his house and the next.

"This is going to hurt. On so many levels." Ruby stated. She lifted up the last of his liquor bottles and splashed it on his skin. He screamed.

"What are you doing?"

"It stops infection." Ruby held the bottle away from him. He reached further and she jumped back. It was hard for him to focus on her movement. She moved so fast, he was surprised when she was suddenly in his face again.

"It doesn't make _you_ go away!"

She didn't even look offended. She ignored it and wiped his hair out of his face, pulling thorns and leaves out.

"I've put up with a lot worse insults, _Sweetheart_." She said 'Sweetheart' in a very callous tone. "You're going to have to do better than that." She smiled.

She started dabbing the scratches with a thin cloth and got lost in her concentration. Haymitch watched her as he remembered everything he could about this girl.

Ruby's parents were never married. They were District 12 orphans, and notoriously famous for their relationship. They are the example all the parents use to make sure teens wait to be 19 before we get married and or sleep together. It's a very good example because even though they were together, he was still a tribute, and she was still young enough to be a tribute if she'd survived childbirth. And now Ruby can also be chosen. Being a victor's child does not exempt you from the games.

Ruby had a nanny from the Capitol who took care of her when Rupert was on his victory tour and eventually during every game. This gave Ruby a bit of an accent but she hid it well – by never talking. Which was also why her voice on the roof had alarmed him.

She had gone to school with the rest of the kids from 12. She was very quiet, but by all means the best groomed kid. She didn't have any friends. Even the teachers disliked her. But for a well-fed girl, she seemed too scrawny. And yet, she had somehow managed to get him back into his house.

Ruby finished her work and started cleaning up.

"You don't have to thank me or anything." She said as she stepped away. She disappeared into his kitchen and returned with coffee. Haymitch sat up and tried to get his head together. Ruby sat down next to him after setting the coffee on the table.

"I've never heard you speak before." Was all Haymitch could think of saying.

"People never listened when I said sorry, so I stopped talking." She said. She shook her head as if to clear a thought. Her hair fell out of its place and she proceeded to take it out of the bun and put it up again.

The most memorable and striking thing about Ruby is her hair. It's what she's named for. She has ruby-red hair. She used to cut it short, like the boys, but it stood up in tuffs so she grew it out and pulled it into a bun permanently. The girls in school, including Haymitch's girlfriend, believed that Ruby has her hair dyed by her nanny each time her dad is in the Capitol. But she hadn't gotten a nanny for years, and everyone knew her to have red hair from when she was a toddler. It was just another reason to exclude her. They all said she was _too Capitol_. That she was the enemy. But Haymitch remembered her always having red hair. It must have been something she got from her mother's side.

With her hair down, Haymitch saw innocence in her that he'd never seen before. The red hair waved down to her waist and fell over her face. Her skin was strikingly beautiful and her dark green eyes made the picture complete. Haymitch suddenly wondered why none of the guys in his school ever asked Ruby out. She's beautiful. And rich.

"How old are you?" Haymitch asked.

"Thirteen." She said. That took Haymitch by surprise.

"Thirteen? You're just a baby!" Haymitch mused. Anger flared up in Ruby's eyes as they snapped up to meet his.

"I haven't been a kid, since my dad tried to kill himself the first time." She retorted. "I saw the blood, the crumbled up sorry letter, which he dumbed down so a six-year-old child could read it! I watched as the Capitol people carried him away, cleaned up my house and returned him to me doped up on morphling. And ever since that day I've had to talk him out of suicides and overdoses every single day. I'm not a kid."

"I'm sorry." Haymitch stared into her eyes. She was right. She didn't look like a kid. She has decades in her eyes. They reflected back the pain and guilt and sorrow of everything that's wrong with this world.

"Can we start over?" Haymitch suggested, holding out his hand. "Hi. I'm Haymitch."

She stared at his hand for a minute before shaking it. "Ruby."

"I know. Ruby Rain. Rupert's daughter. It's nice to finally meet you." Haymitch added a smile, which she returned.

"It's nice to meet you too, Haymitch. Uhm. Welcome to the village."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ruby and Haymitch became friends. Soon after they met, he started finding things out about her that no one really knew. Things that made her so amazing, but since no one knew, it didn't ever count in her favor. Every week she took a portion of her dad's victory money and dropped it off at the orphanage. Every Sunday she went to the bakery and ordered pies and cakes to be delivered to what they called the old age home. It was just like an orphanage for old people. Each month she helped a different family in the Seam who desperately needed some or other help. Saturdays she disappeared, but Haymitch figured she spent all that time with her dad.

Haymitch eventually started walking with her to school, and went back to walk home with her in the afternoon. This forced him to get up in the mornings and make himself presentable. She made him a cake for his seventeenth birthday and started prepping him for his victory tour. Her dad was supposed to do it, but she's witnessed it enough times to know it too.

One Saturday, Rupert showed up on Haymitch's doorstep.

"So, I guess it's time to prep you for your victory tour."

Something confused Haymitch. "It's Saturday. Don't you spend Saturdays with Ruby… your daughter…?"

"I know Ruby is my daughter. I didn't know you were on first name basis with her."

"She didn't tell you that we're friends?" Haymitch asked.

"She doesn't really talk much. As a _friend_ you should know that." Rupert spoke with subtle hostility.

"She talks to me." Haymitch said and showed Rupert into his house.

"Well, she's not at home. She's always out on Saturdays. She does some charity things."

"She does that on Sundays."

"Whatever. Do you want help?"

That Sunday, Haymitch asked Ruby about her whereabouts on Saturdays. She laughed it off and said she was just running home errands.

"What are you going to pose as your talent?" She asked, dismissing the conversation quickly.

"I have this idea to make a game." Haymitch said as he stared at his own bag of coins.

"A game?" Ruby was cautious about his idea.

"A money game. The only thing I'm good at is strategy. So I figured I could make something fun out of it. I figured this out, okay. I want to make a stack of similar looking cards of a range of ascending numbers. Not sure how many yet. Then people can get together, put money on a table, the cards will be handed out and each player ends up with five cards in their hands. The rest go in a neat pile in the middle. They have to take turns to pick up a card, and drop a card, in order to get better cards. The one with the first match of running numbers or similar numbers wins the money." Haymitch explained.

"Gambling's illegal." Ruby mentioned.

"Not in the Capitol."

A couple weeks later Ruby's disappearance on Saturday's really started bugging Haymitch. So he followed her. She got up in the morning, checked on her dad, who mostly slept during the day, and walked into town. She walked behind the school and snuck in a window. Haymitch waited for her to return but after a long time, he crawled into the same space and started looking for her.

He heard soft music and followed that until he ended up in the school hall, where he saw Ruby dancing. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen before. It was unlike any dance they'd ever done in 12. Or even things he'd seen in the Capitol or on TV. The music was a fusion of instruments and fun beats. He watched her dance and wondered even how any person was able to move and twist her body like that. He wondered where she had learned in the first place. It finally made sense how she could move so fast or jump over the rooftops.

Haymitch slowly stepped away and decided that she would tell him about her dancing once she's comfortable. He figured it was her way of venting. He decided that day that he was going to do everything in his power to help her with her dad. And to never be the cause of her stress and anger. She was too beautiful to break.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Five years later. (Yes, sorry I had to jump this far but I will fill you in about what happened in the five years, in this chapter.)

In the years that passed, Haymitch and Ruby became close. Rupert disapproved of it, but did find that she was happier since Haymitch was in her life. He constantly told them to keep things cool until she's out of the reaping ball. But it didn't stop them from falling in love. Ruby's name was only in the ball once each year, so she was relatively safe. And they were just so relieved each year that her name was not called. Haymitch went with Rupert to mentor the kids and tried really hard to get their kids back safe, but to no avail. Each time he returned, his nightmares got worse and worse. But being with Ruby helped.

In the beginning, the people of 12 didn't like them being together, because they didn't like Ruby. But eventually they warmed up to her.

When she turned seventeen, her father agreed that she could live with Haymitch, because she was the only thing that could keep him sane and he was the only thing that kept her happy. That year, Haymitch asked Rupert if he could marry Ruby when she turned nineteen. Rupert agreed and Haymitch asked her on her eighteenth birthday.

Way back before his victory tour, he designed, cut and painted his own set of playing cards. It became a favorite pastime in the Capitol and in Ruby's house. Except they bet on house chores or which flavor ice cream to eat after dinner. One day he designed and created a special card that had the words "marry me" painted with the number. When they were playing for who makes dinner, he snuck the special card into her hand and she said yes.

She excitedly started planning their wedding. With the help of most people in 12, she designed the whole wedding to be a public party.

Rupert had concerns that the Capitol might not like Haymitch's happiness but they were ignored as the whole district prepared for the big day.

One thing stood in their way that was bigger than Rupert and his requirements. Reaping day was coming closer and Ruby still had one name in that bowl. One last chance.

Reaping day came. Ruby woke up with a jolt, as her nightmares had begun reflecting those Haymitch have been telling her about. She felt around the bed and found it empty. Haymitch sat on the edge of the bed, grasping at what was real, and what was a nightmare. They had breakfast with her dad and Ruby disappeared to the school hall for some private dancing (which she still had not told him about). At 2 pm, Ruby was dressed and ready, standing in the group with all the other kids.

A new girl stood on the stage, there was no telling how old she was. Her wig, a multi-colored feathery mess, stood perfect on her head. After the video played, the new girl was introduced. Effie Trinket. She stood forward and after receiving no applause, she decided to call the names. But being new or maybe even nervous, she read the boy's name first.

Ruby watched as a classmate was called up. Tano Sienna. She turned her eyes back to the stage and kept them on Haymitch. His curly hair was wet from his stress, but his eyes were kept on Ruby. She smiled. A sense of relief flooding her as she looked up at him. She almost grinned and jumped for joy.

"Oh, now for the girls, I suppose," Effie said, bringing Ruby back down to earth. She had not called the girls yet. Effie strutted over to the girl's names in her fish bowl wedge heels.

"Belinda Ruperts." Effie read. The crowd was confused. The kids stared at everyone, trying to figure out whom she was talking about.

Ruby swallowed hard and stepped forward. Haymitch's heart started racing. What was happening? Then it struck him. Ruby Rain was just a nickname. For Belinda Ruperts. And Rupert, was Cinna Ruperts.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5.

Ruby stepped onto the stage.

"Belinda Ruperts and Tano Sienna. Give them a hand of applause." Effie said. The peacekeepers started moving Ruby into the Town hall, when her fight-or-flight instinct kicked in. She took one step off course and the peacekeepers where on her. They had to carry her off stage and lock her into her waiting room. She put up so much commotion once in the room that they had to sedate her with sleeping gas. Haymitch and Rupert were not allowed to see her and since she had no other family, the Peacekeepers carried her to the car that took her to the train station. Effie had to make a statement at the station about Ruby to explain her absence. The reporters were not happy, but it made for an interesting story non-the less.

Haymitch boarded the train with Rupert and watched District 12 disappear behind them. Tano sat down in a chair by the window and kept to himself. Haymitch raced to Ruby's room but found the door locked.

"What is going on?!" Haymitch yelled as Rupert started calming him.

"How can you be so calm?" Haymitch continued to pull at the door.

"Because no matter how much you fight this, she's going into the arena."

"No matter what I do, she could die…" Haymitch slipped down the wall and sat on the floor.

"Welcome to my world, Haymitch." Rupert walked away. "It's no easy road. No matter which way you go, someone dies. One kid or the other. Usually both."

"What's all this commotion?" Effie came out of her room. She headed to the dining cart and escorted Tano with her.

"She's my daughter, Miss Trinket." Rupert called after Effie.

"Oh that is interesting." Effie's face lit up. Haymitch wanted to scratch her perfect skin.

"And she's his fiancé." Rupert finished and disappeared into his own room.

"That's even more interesting! Wow! Did I strike gold or what?!" Effie's accent was strong. Her excitement a bit too much for Haymitch. He launched himself at her and Tano stepped in his way. Effie hardly saw this as she walked into another compartment.

"Not a good idea, Haymitch. She could still help you." Tano let go of Haymitch and followed behind Effie. Haymitch turned and, after trying Ruby's door one more time, went into his own room.

Hours later, Effie tapped at Haymitch's door, calling him for dinner. He ignored it, checked Ruby's room again and fell asleep at her door.

He woke up in his compartment and went to check on Ruby. But before he got out of bed, her hand touched his elbow and he fell back to her side. Her eyes were wide open. She was more scared than she would ever admit.

"I can't believe it." She whispered.

"I know. Me either. I'm so sorry. I wish there was something…"

"I had a strange dream." Ruby cut him off. "I was Effie Trinket. I was wearing old telephones for shoes, and a big bow in my hair. I took out the paper with the girl's name on it and read my own name. But it was Ruby Rain. Not Belinda Ruperts. I watched myself walk up the steps. And suddenly I was myself again. When the Peacekeepers reached for me, I ducked under their grasp. I jumped and got away. But instead of running for my life, I ran to the bowl. I grabbed a paper and read the name. Ruby Rain. I dropped it and grabbed another. Again it was my name. I tore it up and read another. Ruby. The peacekeepers reached for me again and I knocked the bowl over. The papers flew in a thousand directions, all with my name on them…"

"It was just a dream." Haymitch tried to be comforting.

"Was it?" Ruby closed her eyes and opened them. "We are on the train, aren't we?"

"It's going to be okay. We'll figure this out. You will go home with me."

"At what cost?" Ruby started crying. "Twenty three other kids have to die so that I can go home."

"You don't have to kill them. You can wait it out. And claim victory in the end."

"They all still have to die, while I do nothing."


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Ruby and Haymitch walked to the dining cart together. Effie was already chatting away about how wonderful the capital is and how great breakfast is. Rupert looked up when Ruby walked in and stood to hug her. He held her tightly as Effie chirped on.

"Well, well, well. It's wonderful to finally meet you, Belinda. I'm Effie."

"I know who you are. And it's Ruby. No one calls me Belinda." Ruby cut her off.

"Well, I was just telling Tomo here about…" Effie started.

"It's Tano. You should be a bit more professional and remember our names. I know how _wonderful_ the Capital is, you don't need to repeat anything. Ever."

Ruby sat down and they started to eat. Breakfast was a quiet affair. Effie remained quiet for the most part, aside from commenting now and then about the train, the food or the mood in the room. After breakfast, Rupert took a bread roll and led Ruby and Haymitch into the only cart that had a fireplace.

"Do it." Rupert handed Haymitch the bread. "I know this is morbid, but it may be the only time you have left together. I'd rather see you be relatively happy for a few days, than be the one who stands in your way."

"You're already wearing white." Haymitch pointed out. Ruby looked down at her dress. It was not meant to be a wedding dress, but it was beautiful. A tear ran down her cheek as she looked up at Haymitch. "This isn't how we wanted it."

"But it's better than nothing." Ruby finished his thought and reached for the firewood. Ruby and Haymitch stacked the wood and lit it together. Rupert divided the roll and handed them each a piece. He began softly singing the wedding song and Ruby and Haymitch joined in. They toasted the bread and kissed.

"In my eyes, you are now married. The Capitol wont care much for a silly District 12 tradition, but it's not for them. It is for you, my darling." Rupert kissed Ruby on the forehead and headed out.


End file.
